A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community

I appreciate that Jamey Stegmaier is a concise and clear writer. This book is one of the rare few that walks a delicate line between "beginner" and "advanced" - the content is accessible, even to a newbie in the crowdfunding world, but also has enough rich insight and detail to be a valuable read for someone with a lot of experience already.Jamey's stories are entertaining and also illustrate in concrete ways how seemingly small choices in crowdfunding implementation, can make a very big difference to the success (or failure), of your campaign. Some of his lessons learned have been painful ones, and some of his ideas are counter-intuitive, but when I understood his logic, it changed my view completely.There are some curious choices from an organization perspective (the organization of the book, I mean), but overall I found it a good read, chock full of important ideas that were followed with evidence to back them up.I am already recommending this book to several friends, and I am keeping it by my side while I create my product and design my strategy for going to a crowdfunding platform.

I seldom write book reviews (not for a lack of reading, typically it's a lack of time) but sometimes you read a book and you can't put it down. This is such a book. Those who frequent gaming sites such as board game geek or read Jamey's blogs know that he is committed to quality in every facet of how he runs his business (Stonemaier Games). His unique board games have terrific production value and have had notable success (his game Viticulture is releasing an essential edition in November and he has another Kickstarter campaign set to begin this October). He's someone who puts the needs of his backers (and even non-backers) above his own.In his book, Jamey stresses that taking the time to build up your community (by being a positive, contributing member) and genuinely connecting with your supporters to establish trust can greatly increase your chances of having a successful crowdfunding campaign. Such venues are remarkable because in many of the campaigns, the backers contribute both financially and creatively. In A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide, Jamey discusses that no matter how great of a product you think you might have, it is the people that support it that make it truly great. By putting every single backer first, you establish trust that can keep those backers interested in your future endeavors. For example, his company has a 30-day return policy on Kickstarter products and not surprisingly, very few have ever acted on it which a testament to their exceptional quality.Furthermore, the book discusses many of the logistical pitfalls (such as international shipping or manufacturing issues) or scarcity tactics (the dreaded early bird pledges) that can doom (or severely hinder) an otherwise good campaign. It cites numerous Kickstarter campaigns and their results, as well as some of the creative ways creators appreciated their backers.This guide was a delight to read and I encourage anyone who finishes it to continue their research by delving into the numerous blogs he has posted at his website kickstarterlessons. It is completely free to read and has a wealth of information. Highly recommended!

Very good practical advice on how to run a KickStarter campaign from somebody who has done several (and since sworn off using KS as his business and reputation is well established). My guess is the typical KS Creator will find a lot of this to be too much bother, and for the guy just trying to make a quick buck it probably is. Stegmaier had a vision beyond his individual projects and put in the time and effort to build a real business. All of which makes this a useful read for the KS Backer, if the project you are considering doesn't sound much like what Stegmaier recommends, why not? Maybe it isn't all that good a deal?

I started backing Stonemaier Games projects with Euphoria, so I've had a chance to watch Jamey Stegmaier at work on several Kickstarter projects, and have always enjoyed reading his updates and blog posts. This book goes back to the very beginning, and discusses issues important to anyone who is interested in breaking into the crowdfunding game. Even though all of his projects have been games or game components, this book should be required reading for anyone about to embark on a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign, whether it's for a game or for a new style of can opener. There will be something you learn in this book that will be worth more than the price of admission, I assure you!

The book offers an interesting twist on product development in the context of crowd funding with a strong emphasis on stakeholder management, advertising your product/campaign and building a community. Wording is very clear and helps demystify this daunting process.The only downside I would say is the book assumes you have already created a great product ready to be crowd-founded and even though I respect that bias, the book could be more contextualised around that creative process, from which it feels s bit distant in its current form.Overall an amazing reading experience, thanks for being awesome Jamey!

Great guide to preparing and running a KS campaign.

Its a really nice book for people who wants to start doing crowdfunding, easy to read and very systematic. Recommended to read!

tiene datos muy buenos si estas en tu primer proyecto ya que ayuda a tener una imagen general de los pasos a seguir, pero se trata mas bien de un resumen de lo que se debe hacer para tener mas posibilidades de triunfar en tu proyecto sin ahondar mucho en cada tema, es mas facil quizas conseguir informacion directamente en los foros de kickstarter, es mas detallada

I have already run 2 successful kickstarter campaigns before reading this book. I wish I had of read this book first! There is a TON of good info in this book. No doubt that my next campaign will be even better with this knowledge.